It was Embiid's fifth double-double in the last seven games.

Ben Simmons scored 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting, Dario Saric added 15 and Justin Anderson had 12 for the Sixers, who moved three games above .500 and won for just the second time in San Antonio since 1986. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot also had 10.

The Sixers had dropped 13 in a row in San Antonio and hadn't posted a victory since January of 2004. Randy Ayers was the Sixers' coach that season when he took over for Larry Brown.

The Sixers played without guards JJ Redick (leg) and Jerryd Bayless (wrist) yet started their four-game road trip on a positive note.

LaMarcus Aldridge paced the cold-shooting Spurs with 18 points. Pau Gasol added 11 and Dejounte Murray had 10 for the Spurs, who made just 30 of 75 shots and just 3 of 24 from 3-point territory.

The Spurs were a bit short-handed without Kawhi Leonard, Rudy Gay and Manu Ginobili.

San Antonio suffered just its fourth home loss of the season - 20-4.

Philadelphia still held an 84-61 lead early in the fourth before the Spurs scored five straight to close within 18, 84-66.

All season, the Sixers have struggled to hold double-digit leads, but they surged ahead 90-72 following a layup by Saric with 6:16 remaining.

The Sixers scored the next five points with Simmons' basket giving them a commanding 95-72 advantage with 4:03 left.

The Sixers jumped out to a 25-13 lead after the first thanks to stingy defense and no turnovers.

The lead swelled to 38-17 midway through the second when Covington hit a pair of free throws.

When Anderson dropped in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Sixers held a surprising 50-31 lead at halftime.

The Spurs, usually a terrific shooting team, went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc in the opening 24 minutes.

Philadelphia had only one turnover at halftime and held the largest lead in its history of any game played at San Antonio.

--Field Level Media